US Canada Boundary Treaty Centennial Souvineer Booklet 1946 Northwest History

Description

On June 15th, 1946 delegates from British Columbia and Washington convened  to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Boundary Treaty.  A 16 page, magazine size pamphlet was produced to mark the occasion and provide a history that lead to the treaty.  This copy has survived quite well with only some off setting to the cover caused by an unfortunately placed newspaper clipping allowed to recline for one to many years.  The interior is clean.  Printed on black and white on cream colored paper, it contains 18 pictures and a map of the Northwest Country on the rear cover.
"Representatives of Great Britain and the United States sign the Oregon Treaty, which settles a long-standing dispute with Britain over who controlled the Oregon territory. The treaty established the 49th parallel from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Georgia as the boundary between the United States and British Canada. The United States gained formal control over the future states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana; and the British retained Vancouver Island and navigation rights to part of the Columbia River.
In 1818, a U.S.-British agreement had established the border along the 49th parallel from Lake of the Woods in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. The two nations also agreed to a joint occupation of Oregon territory for 10 years, an arrangement that was extended for an additional 10 years in 1827. After 1838, the issue of who possessed Oregon became increasingly controversial, especially when mass American migration along the Oregon Trail began in the early 1840s.
American expansionists urged seizure of Oregon, and in 1844 Democrat James K. Polk successfully ran for president under the platform “Fifty-four forty or fight,” which referred to his hope of bringing a sizable portion of present-day Vancouver and Alberta into the United States. However, neither President Polk nor the British government wanted a third Anglo-American war, and on June 15, 1846, the Oregon Treaty, a compromise, was signed. By the terms of the agreement, the U.S. and Canadian border was extended west along the 49th parallel to the Strait of Georgia, just short of the Pacific Ocean."
(retrieved from history.com on 8/10/2020)